For everyone to see...the BIGGER picture?
Every week, the number of tagged horses greatly increases, equal to the pull requests for kill pen horses. Yet, here sit over 70 saved or diverted from that such fate, waiting for their person to come along. All saved, evaluated, assessed & ready for their next purpose. Your guess work - done, your quarantine expenses - done. Some horses we’ve carried their care for months and for some, years. We recently lowered adoption fees and yet, even with lowered adoption fees,…little movement. Perfect matches passed over for the kill pen save.
So, you want advice on how to save a horse from the kill pen? Expect this:
Brokers do not care where their money comes from. They don’t care what line you need to hear and get your dollar because, they are preying on your emotions with the threat…”ships tomorrow.” At the end of the day, there are thousands more you don’t see. You can’t out run the truck. For every 12 he places through his pages, he loads over 300 more, sometimes 2 to 3 times a week, filling a quotas for either a zoo contracts, Canada or Mexico. The massive number of unwanted horses outnumbers available homes for them.
How do they get them? Anyone consigning to an auction, any auction, at the end of the day loses control and care for where that horse ends up. Some auctions have as little in actual home or rescue attendance and it is MOSTLY broker attended. Some cultures only have auctions or dealing direct with a broker for selling or trading up on a horse that is no longer of use to them. Some owners have given up, feeling they have no choice and can no longer afford the costs. Owners who hold on to the hope that someone will be in that audience for their horse, when they no longer can…because, all they have left is hope. Hope is not going to be found at auction some auctions. And quite honestly, some owners just don’t care or can’t bear the thought of euthanizing. There are also more brokers ready to lay down money now at even higher prices, on the chance a bleeding heart will pay sometimes triple or bit over what they’d paid at auction or what they are able to get as a meat price.
By waiting for the pen…not shopping…not adopting…perpetuating this continuous route of devaluing sales and what is asked for quality horses…feeding into the broker market…you are indeed handing them the win. This enables their power to ask outrageous prices, more like ransoms on horses often misrepresented and much more than the average shopper is ready to handle.
By constantly feeding into the broker/kill pen frenzy, you also hurt legitimate rescues and sellers. The desire to pull versus shop is not freeing up a spot where another could be helped. This is not helping someone who is trying to do right by his/her horse, finding them an appropriate home through sale and avoid this scenario all together. It’s throwing money toward the unknown, when many work hard to follow-up on adoptions, put time and effort into making each horse suitable for placement or to the ones who care who or where their horses sell to.
Still want to pull from the kill pen?
Expect the fee and sales tax often to be three times what the broker paid for the horse. The horses are thrown in and mixed together at most lots. Injuries can happen, so can spread of sickness.
To legally cross state lines, you’ll need to present a health certificate and Coggins. Don’t expect the broker to do that for you. Not all auctions require this for a horse to run through, let alone require registration papers or history knowledge to pass with any horse.
Quarantine is recommended for a minimum of 30 days and costs vary between $12-$18/day. Know your provider. Not all are as they present. Know and understand the care your horse is getting; ask for photos.
Transport to and from the broker lot to quarantine ranges, is distance based. Know your hauler; not all are equal or operate under Code. On top of this, you need to arrange for transport to your home from quarantine. Lowest price does not equal the safest price.
Once home, the time to see if indeed your horse is as they were presentation. Just because the broker claims it’s a Morgan, does not mean it is. Or, by doing DNA guarantees you a registered match. Do not walk into this assuming such. The DNA process is not fast; there are fees and no guarantees. Not all breeds DNA. Morgans DNA and the test is only to find out if there is a registration or registered parents on file. If the horse in question only had blood on file or never registered, and no information passed on with the horse, DNA results will be non-conclusive. The test will not tell you if your horse is a certain breed.
Consequently, if your horse does not live up to its auction presentation, you must prepare and commit yourself to help it find the best match. The obligation is yours to make the horse suited for placement. That should be in the forefront of your mind, as the risk you take stepping up for an unknown horse. Now is not the time to call a rescue and ask for them to take over.
If you still want/chose to pull from a kill pen, I wish you the best of luck. For Morgan Safenet, our work and focus will be to the many we have stepped up for, still seeking their forever homes. Our focus will not be at the pen but higher up the chain of issue to help them BEFORE there is a need to rescue. This will remain in smaller, more manageable portions and not until we have placed the current load before we’ll step up for another.
We know we can’t out run the truck and it is the wrong place to do the most good.
Morgan Safenet’s mission forward will continue to focus on helping to promote our breed and by providing a network, prevent the need for rescue through assisting owners, trainers, breeders, Amish and Mennonite communities. A network for their lower price point and repurposed Morgans, educating and raising awareness of the breed. We will continue with our small army of supporters, in collaboration with our partners; The American Saddlebred Legacy Foundation and be a voice for those who have none. #morgansafenet #saddlebredlegacy #partnersforchange #repurpose #thetimeisnow